We came. We show. We conquered.

Producer Jon Fox likes to dredge up old sayings to describe a circumstance at hand, just like someone’s grandad, which he recently became. Following the show within the massive University Ballroom at Sacramento State University, it was “youth will out” and “luck of the draw” that came to his lips.

Before a nice crowd of about 200 students and alumni spread out over a room set up for 700, both performers and audience members initially had a difficult time focusing. The Competition’s first all-female judging panel sitting dead center in front of the stage added to the challenge.

A big question at hand was how this particular crowd (not to mention the powers that be who sign the checks) would respond to certain detailed sexual references that were bound to be voiced. As it turned out, quite well indeed.

Alisha Dhillon and CJ Koepp were fortunate to have drawn the number four and five spots in the line-up, so by the time they got onstage, the audience was warmed up enough to be receptive to their more graphic comments. It didn’t hurt that both are age-compatible with the school demographic.

The Top Five